After throwing 96 relief innings, most in the majors and most by any Twins reliever since Greg Swindell in 1997, Anthony Swarzak insisted his right arm wasn't dragging in the least.

"I feel great. I'm ready to go," Swarzak, 28, said on the season's final day. "Here I am at 96 (innings), and I'm ready to throw another 100 innings. I'm not joking."

As they did a year ago at this time, the Twins sent Swarzak home to South Florida with instructions to prepare himself during the offseason as though he'll be competing for a starting role in the spring. A freak accident that caused him to fracture a rib in late January shelved that plan in 2013, but a return to starting remains a possibility in 2014.

"I've been preparing as a starter, and I've been a starter for a lot of my career over these 10 years," he said. "If that opportunity to start presents itself again, I'll be ready to jump all over it."

Eligible for salary arbitration for the first time this winter, Swarzak plans to take his usual three weeks off before returning to his regular workouts. He will throw every three or four days in November, he said, "just to keep the arm moving."

Starting Dec. 1, he will start throwing five days a week, as he has in recent years.

"I have my offseason routine that I like to stick with because I know that it works for me," he said. "That's what I'm going to continue to do, and the rest is in their hands.

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While the Twins resisted the urge to take a look at Swarzak in their starting rotation in September, they could give him another crack at a role in which he's struggled in the past. He averaged exactly two innings per appearance this year in a long-relief role, which tends to be thankless and easily overlooked.

"Hey, a role is a role. I'm not downplaying that at all," Swarzak said. "When I pitch, I'm pitching against the same lineup, the same guys that the starter just faced. It's a role that I'm willing to fulfill for as long as my organization needs me to do that."

Finding comparable relievers with similar service time and production as Swarzak isn't easy. His 2.91 earned-run average was third-best on the team for anyone with 12 innings or more, and his 2.06 walks per nine innings trailed only Drew Albers and Casey Fien.

Among relievers with at least 75 innings, no starts and three saves or less in a season since 2009, Washington right-handers Craig Stammen (2012) and Tyler Clippard (2011) and Seattle right-hander Mark Lowe (2009) were first-time arbitration qualifiers.

Lowe received a raise to $1.15 million the following season, Clippard to $1.65 million and Stammen signed a two-year deal totaling $2.25 million.

Lowe threw 80 innings with a 3.26 ERA. Clippard had a 1.83 ERA in 88 1/3 innings. Stammen had a 2.34 ERA in 88 1/3 innings.

In addition, Edward Mujica, then with Miami, saw his pay double to $1.625 million off a 2011 season in which he threw 76 innings with a 2.96 ERA. That, however, was Mujica's second bite at the arbitration apple.

Swarzak laughed when asked if he had mentioned the possibility of a multiyear deal to the Twins, who drafted him in the second round in 2004.

"I don't think that needs to be said," he said. "I think they would understand I'm willing to sign a deal here."